And just as he will see to our spiritual defense, so he will prompt others to provide us with food and clothes and life’s necessities when he sees that we will not leave the work of love to see about such things for ourselves. I say this specifically to refute those who erroneously maintain that no one may devote himself to the contemplative life before he has provided for all his material needs. They say: “God sends the cow, but not by the horn.”2 But they misinterpret God and they know it. For God will never disappoint those who truly abandon worldly concerns to dedicate themselves to him. You can be certain of this: he will provide one of two things for his friends. Either they will receive an abundance of all they need or he will give them the physical stamina and a patient heart to endure want. What difference does it make which he does? It is all the same to the true contemplative. Anyone doubting this only reveals that the evil one has robbed his heart of faith or that he is not yet as wholly committed to God as he should be, despite cleverly contrived appearances to the contrary.
And so I say again to anyone who wants to become a real contemplative like Mary, let the wonderful transcendence and goodness of God teach you humility rather than the thought of your own sinfulness, for then your humility will be perfect. Attend more to the wholly otherness of God rather than to your own misery. And remember that those who are perfectly humble will lack nothing they really need, either spiritually or materially. God is theirs and he is all. Whoever possesses God, as this book attests, needs nothing else in this life.
CHAPTER 24
What charity is in itself; how it is subtly and perfectly contained in contemplative love.
We have seen that perfect humility is an integral part of the contemplative’s simple blind love. Wholly intent upon God, this simple love beats unceasingly upon the dark cloud of unknowing, leaving all discursive thought beneath the cloud of forgetting. Now just as contemplative love nurtures perfect humility, so it is creative of practical goodness, especially charity. For in real charity one loves God for himself alone above every created thing and he loves his fellow man because it is God’s law. In the contemplative work God is loved above every creature purely and simply for his own sake. Indeed, the very heart of this work is nothing else but a naked intent toward God for his own sake.1
I call it a naked intent because it is utterly disinterested. In this work the perfect artisan does not seek personal gain or exemption from suffering. He desires only God and him alone.2 He is so fascinated by the God he loves and so concerned that his will be done on earth that he neither notices nor cares about his own ease or anxiety. This is why, I believe, that in this work God is really loved perfectly and for his own sake. For a true contemplative may share with no other creature the love he owes to God.
Moreover, in contemplation the second and subsidiary command of charity is also completely fulfilled. The fruits of contemplation bear witness to this even though during the actual time of prayer the skilled contemplative has no special regard for any person in particular, whether brother or stranger, friend or enemy. In reality, no man is a stranger to him because he looks on each one as a brother. And none is his enemy. All are his friends. Even those who hurt or offend him in everyday life are as dear to him as his best friends and all the good he desires for his best friends he desires for them.
CHAPTER 25
That in the time of contemplative prayer, the perfect contemplative does not focus his attention on any person in particular.
I have already explained that during the time of this work a real contemplative does not dwell on the thought of any person in particular, neither friend, enemy, stranger, nor kin. For he who desires to become perfect in this work must forget about everything except God.
Nevertheless, through contemplation he is so growing in practical goodness and love that, when he speaks or prays with his fellow Christians at other times, the warmth of his love reaches out to them all, friend, enemy, stranger, and kin alike. If there is any partiality at all, it is more likely to be toward his enemy than toward his friend. (Not that he should ever abandon contemplation entirely—for this could not be done without great sin—but sometimes charity will demand that he descend from the heights of this work to do something for his fellow man.)
But in the contemplative work itself, he does not distinguish between friend and enemy, brother and stranger. I do not mean, however, that he will cease to feel a spontaneous affection toward a few others who are especially close to him. Of course, he will and frequently, too. This is perfectly natural and legitimate for many reasons known only to love. You will remember that Christ himself had a special love for John and Mary and Peter. The point I am making is that during the work of contemplation everyone is equally dear to him since it is God alone who stirs him to love. He loves all men plainly and nakedly for God; and he loves them as he loves himself.
All men were lost through Adam’s sin but all those who by their good will manifest a desire to be saved shall be saved by Christ’s redeeming death. A person deeply committed to contemplation shares in Christ’s redemptive suffering, not exactly as Christ did himself, but in a manner similar to Christ’s. For in true contemplation a person is one with God in a spiritual sense and does all in his power to draw others to perfect contemplation. You know that your whole body shares in the pain or the well-being felt by any of its parts, because it is a unity. In a spiritual sense, all Christians are parts of Christ’s one body. He is our head and if we are in grace we are his members. On the Cross he sacrificed himself for his body, the Church. Whoever wishes to follow Christ perfectly must also be willing to expend himself in the spiritual work of love for the salvation of all his brothers and sisters in the human family. I repeat, not only for his friends and family and those most dear to him, but with universal affection he must work for the salvation of all mankind. For Christ died to save anyone who repents of his sins and seeks the mercy of God.1
So you see, contemplative love is so refined and integral that it includes in itself perfectly both humility and charity. For the same reasons and in the same way, it perfectly includes every other virtue as well.2
CHAPTER 26
That without special grace or a long fidelity to ordinary grace, contemplative prayer is very difficult; that this work is possible only with grace, for it is the work of God.
So then, take up the toil of the contemplative work with wholehearted generosity. Beat upon this high cloud of unknowing and spurn the thought of resting. For I tell you frankly that anyone who really desires to be a contemplative will know the pain of arduous toil (unless God should intervene with special grace); he will feel keenly the cost of constant effort until he is long accustomed to this work.
But tell me, why should it be so difficult? Surely, the fervent love continually awakening in the will is not painful. No, for that is God’s doing, the fruit of his almighty power. Moreover, God is always eager to work in the heart of one who has done all he can to prepare the way for his grace.
Then why is this work so toilsome? The labor, of course, is in the unrelenting struggle to banish the countless distracting thoughts that plague our minds and to restrain them beneath that cloud of forgetting which I spoke of earlier. This is the suffering. All the struggle is on man’s side in the effort he must make to prepare himself for God’s action, which is the awakening of love and which he alone can do. But persevere in doing your part and I promise you that God will not fail to do his.1
Keep at this work faithfully then. I want to see how you get along. Don’t you see how the Lord patiently supports you? Blush for shame! Bear the hardship of discipline for a short while and soon the difficulty and burden of it will abate. In the beginning you will feel tried and constrained but this is only because you do not yet experience the interior joy of this work. As time goes by, however, you will feel a joyful enthusiasm for it and then it will seem light and easy indeed. Then you will feel little or no constraint, for God will sometimes work in your spirit all by himself. Yet not always no
r for very long but as it seems best to him. When he does you will rejoice, and be happy to let him do as he wishes.
Then perhaps he may touch you with a ray of his divine light which will pierce the cloud of unknowing between you and him. He will let you glimpse something of the ineffable secrets of his divine wisdom and your affection will seem on fire with his love. I am at a loss to say more, for the experience is beyond words.2 Even if I were able to say more I would not now. For I dare not try to describe God’s grace with my crude and awkward tongue. In a word, even if I dared I would not.
But when grace awakens in a man’s spirit he must do his part to respond and this I will discuss with you. There is less risk in speaking of this.3
CHAPTER 27
Who ought to engage in the gracious work of contemplation.
First and foremost I want to state clearly who should take up the contemplative work, when it is appropriate to do so, and how a person ought to proceed. Also I want to give you some criteria for discernment in this work.
If you ask who should take up contemplation I would reply: all those who have sincerely forsaken the world and who have set aside the concerns of the active life. These people, even if they have at one time been habitual sinners, should devote themselves to nourishing the grace of contemplative prayer.
CHAPTER 28
That a man should not presume to begin contemplation until he has purified his conscience of all particular sin according to the law of the Church.
If you ask me when a person should begin the contemplative work I would answer: not until he has first purified his conscience of all particular sins in the Sacrament of Penance as the Church prescribes.
After Confession the root and ground from which evil springs will still remain in his heart despite all his efforts, but the work of love will eventually heal them totally.1 And so a person should first cleanse his conscience in Confession. But once having done what the Church requires, he should fearlessly begin the contemplative work, yet humbly, too, realizing that he has been long in coming to it. For even those innocent of grave sin will spend their whole lives at this work because as long as we are in these mortal bodies we shall experience the impenetrable darkness of the cloud of unknowing between us and God.2 Moreover, because of original sin we shall always suffer the burden of our vagrant thoughts, which will seek to divert our complete attention from God.
This is the just punishment of original sin. Before he sinned, man was master and lord of all creatures but he yielded to the evil suggestion of these creatures and disobeyed God. And now when he wishes to obey God he feels the drag of created things. Like arrogant pests they annoy him as he reaches out for God.
CHAPTER 29
That a man should patiently persevere at the work of contemplation, willingly bear its sufferings, and judge no one else.
Anyone who desires to regain the purity of heart lost through sin and to win that personal wholeness beyond all pain must patiently struggle in the contemplative work and endure its toil whether he has been a habitual sinner or not. Both sinners and innocents will suffer in this work although obviously sinners will feel the suffering more. And yet it often happens that some who have been hardened, habitual sinners arrive at the perfection of this work sooner than those who have never sinned grievously. God is truly wonderful in lavishing his grace on anyone he chooses; the world stands bewildered before love like this.
And I believe that Doomsday will actually be glorious, for the goodness of God will shine clearly in all his gifts of grace. Some who are now despised and held in contempt (and who are even perhaps inveterate sinners) shall on that day reign in splendor with his saints. And perhaps some of those who have never sinned grievously and who to all appearances are pious people, venerated as gods by other men, shall find themselves in misery among the damned.
My point is that in this life no man may judge another as good or evil simply on the evidence of his deeds. The deeds themselves are another matter. These we may judge as good or evil, but not the person.
CHAPTER 30
Who has the right to judge and censure the faults of others.
Yet we may ask, is there anyone who can judge another man’s life? Yes, of course, he who has the authority and responsibility for the spiritual good of others may rightfully censure the deeds of men. A man may officially receive this power through the decree and ordination of the Church, or it is possible that the Holy Spirit may privately inspire a particular individual well established in love to assume this office. But let everyone be very careful not to arrogate to himself the duty of monitoring the faults of others, for he is liable to great error. It is another matter if in contemplation a man is really inspired to speak out.
And so I warn you, think twice about passing judgment on the lives of other men. In the privacy of your own conscience judge yourself as you see fit before God or before your spiritual father, but do not meddle in the lives of others.
CHAPTER 31
How the beginners in contemplation should conduct themselves in regard to their thoughts and inclinations to sin.
When you feel that you have done your best to amend your life according to the laws of the Church, give yourself in earnest to the contemplative work. And if the memory of your past sins or the temptation to new ones should plague your mind, forming an obstacle between you and God, crush them beneath your feet and bravely step beyond them. Try to bury the thought of these deeds beneath the thick cloud of forgetting just as if neither you nor anyone else had ever done them. If they persist in returning, you must persist in rejecting them. In short, as often as they rise up you must put them down. If you become sorely tried you will probably begin to investigate techniques, methods, and the secret subtleties of occult crafts to help you control them, but believe me, techniques for controlling your thoughts are better learned from God through experience than from any man in this life.
CHAPTER 32
Of two spiritual devices helpful to beginners in contemplation.
All the same I will tell you a little about two techniques for handling distractions. Try them and improve on them if you can.
When distracting thoughts annoy you try to pretend that you do not even notice their presence or that they have come between you and your God. Look beyond them—over their shoulder, as it were—as if you were looking for something else, which of course you are. For beyond them, God is hidden in the dark cloud of unknowing. Do this and I feel sure you will soon be relieved of anxiety about them. I can vouch for the orthodoxy of this technique because in reality it amounts to a yearning for God, a longing to see and taste him as much as is possible in this life. And desire like this is actually love, which always brings peace.1
There is another strategy you are welcome to try also. When you feel utterly exhausted from fighting your thoughts, say to yourself: “It is futile to contend with them any longer,” and then fall down before them like a captive or coward. For in doing this you commend yourself to God in the midst of your enemies and admit the radical impotence of your nature. I advise you to remember this device particularly, for in employing it you make yourself completely supple in God’s hands.2 And surely when this attitude is authentic it is the same as self-knowledge because you have seen yourself as you really are, a miserable and defiled creature less than nothing without God. This is, indeed, experiential humility. When God beholds you standing alone in this truth he cannot refrain from hastening to you and revenging himself on your enemies. Then like a father rescuing his small child from the jaws of wild swine or savage bears, he will stoop to you and gathering you in his arms, tenderly brush away your spiritual tears.
CHAPTER 33
That through contemplation a person is purified of particular sins and their consequences, yet never arrives at perfect security in this life.
I will not go into any other techniques right now. If you master these, I believe you will be more qualified to teach me than I am to teach you. For although all I have said about their effi
cacy is quite true, I am far from being very skilled in them. And so I sincerely hope that you will help me by becoming proficient in them yourself.
I encourage you to keep on for this little while of time and if you cannot master these techniques immediately, endure patiently the suffering of distractions. Truly, they will be your purgatory on earth. But your suffering will pass and God will begin to teach you his own methods by grace and through experience. Then I will know that you are purified of sin and its effects; from the effects of your own personal sins, that is, not from those of original sin. For the remnants of original sin will plague you to the grave despite all your efforts. They will not trouble you as much as the effects of your personal sins, however. Nevertheless, you must realize that in this life you will never be without great anguish. On account of original sin, every day will bring some new temptation to evil which you must strike down and cut away with the fierce two-edged sword of discernment. Experience will teach you that in this life there is no absolute security or lasting peace.
But never give up and do not become overly anxious about failing. For if you have the grace to conquer the effects of your personal sins with the aid of devices such as I have described (or in better ways if you can), be confident that the effects of original sin and whatever temptations may come from them will actually hinder your growth very little.
The Cloud of Unknowing Page 8
